June 6 was the last hay day for the Henderson Property in Hurricane.

The last hay day has come and gone for the Henderson Property in Hurricane. From this year forward, the Henderson Property will be known as the new Hurricane Middle School because it is the site of the yet-to-be-constructed school.

The Putnam County Board of Education purchased the property in February of 2009 from Billy Lee Henderson, the founder of the Henderson Insurance Agency. The Henderson name was retained because the former Henderson home was the only structure upon the property.

Fifty years ago, the Henderson Property was known as the Mary Burton Place. Mary Burton was Billy Lee Henderson’s aunt. Mary Burton’s father purchased the property in 1897. The date of the first hay harvest has escaped history. Little is known of the history of the property before the 1840’s but old timers, now long passed, have reported that the Mary Burton Place was the beginning point of the Gallipolis Trail. The Gallipolis Trail no longer exists. Its route was from the Burton Place to Peach Ridge to Trace Creek via present day Foster Road to Ashton on the Ohio River via the Upland-Ashton Road. It was the shortest flood-free route to the Ohio River from Teays Valley in the early 1800’s.